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Internships

English students put the skills they learn in the classroom to work through a range of credited internships in the department and beyond

Students can apply up to 6 credits of internship toward the English major, allowing them to get a head start on their future careers and roles in their community. The English department offers a number of credited internships, or students can earn credit for any writing- or research-intensive internship at the university, in the D.C. metro area and beyond. Our majors can also complement their internships with our ENGL497: “English at Work” course, which provides strategies for researching careers, as well as a personalized job-shadowing opportunity, all intended to sharpen skills in writing and speaking for career advancement in a range of professional paths.

Finding an Internship

English Department Internships 

On-Campus Internships in the Digital Humanities

ENGL388D: DICKINSON ELECTRONIC ARCHIVES DIGITAL HUMANITIES INTERNSHIP

Professor: Martha Nell Smith

Join a research team of senior scholars, graduate students and undergraduates working across the university and with institutions of higher learning across the country, as well as with the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts. In collaboration with the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, the Dickinson Electronic Archives (DEA) project is offering internships for up to 3 credit hours in humanities computing theory and practice. Interns will work in areas of new media and can specify on which of DEA’s many publishing initiatives they would like to spend at least 8 hours per week.

Current projects include the publication of Dickinson family papers that have not been available for the past century and research exploring the significance of erotic expressions that is part of NORA, a data mining and visualization project in collaboration with the Human-Computer Interaction Lab and the Universities of Alberta, Illinois, Nebraska and Virginia. Interns will be asked to write a short progress report or research paper at mid-term and another at the end of the semester. Besides working on cutting-edge humanities projects, interns will acquire skills increasingly necessary for graduate study and advancement in today’s workforce and will be trained in high-quality text encoding and scanning techniques.

NO PRIOR TRAINING IS REQUIRED, just a willingness to learn and become part of a research team.

To apply, please contact Martha Nell Smith, mnsmith@umd.edu.

ENGL388T: Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities Internships

Instructor: Jeffrey Moro
 
The Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH) offers internships for up to 3 credit hours as part of its research programs in the fields of digital studies and digital humanities. Interns will spend at least 8 hours per week working on one or more MITH projects, in coordination with MITH staff and faculty. Other MITH-related projects may be proposed by the intern and approved by the MITH sponsor.
 
Interested students should contact Jeffrey Moro (jmoro@umd.edu) to inquire about current research projects and available opportunities.

For more information, please visit the MITH website.

On-Campus Internship in Printing & Makerspace

ENGL388E: BookLab Internship

BookLab is the English department's in-house makerspace (Tawes 3248) for traditional letterpress printing and the book arts. A member of the campus-wide Makerspace Initiative, we work with students, faculty, and other members of the campus community who use our wood and metal type collections to print posters, chapbooks, and much more.

We also have a 3D printer, a Glowforge laser cutter, and other resources for creative projects at the intersection of the creative arts, technology, and social justice.

We believe in the power of the press, and have a  commitment to diversity and social justice which informs much of the work we do. Check us out on Twitter and Instagram for a look at what we're currently up to: @umd_booklab

Interns will learn to use our unique equipment and resources, and  assist others to do the same. They will help staff the space and participate in our public programming and events. This would be an excellent internship for anyone interested in publishing, the book industry, the creative arts, graphic design, and media and communication.

Apply by submitting the internship application form here and required materials.

After submitting this form it will be reviewed by Matthew Kirschenbaum, one of BookLab's co-directors. You will not be able to register for this course until given permission. If you have questions, please contact Professor Kirschenbaum at mgk@umd.edu

On-Campus Internships in Teaching and Writing

ENGL292/388C: Writing For Change Internship

Can good writing make the world a better place? We think so! ENGL292/ENGL388C: “Writing for Change” takes writing into the world outside the university to give a voice to local first-year high schoolers. The ninth graders will create written projects to advocate for positive change in their school or community. Your role will be to mentor these students as they explore ways that writing can really make a difference. Twice a week you will meet on campus in a writing and pedagogy seminar. One afternoon a week you will travel with the class to nearby Northwestern High School for a collaborative work session. At the end of the semester, your students will offer presentations that advocate for social change.

As an English major, you can take ENGL292 for 300-level credit by signing up for ENGL388C: “Writing Internship: Writing for Change.” The readings are the same as those for ENGL292 and address topics such as multicultural literacy, educational equity, writing as performance and genre as social action. The writing assignments range widely and include reflections, interviews, multi-genre projects and literacy narratives. ENGL388C adds to the ENGL292 experience a requirement of 15 additional hours on site, or an alternative as devised by the instructor.

We invite you to consider this opportunity to use writing as a tool for social change! Please email Justin Lohr at jlohr@umd.edu if you have questions or would like to enroll.

ENGL388V: Undergraduate Teaching Assistants in English

The Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTA) Internship is a program allowing students to facilitate class activities and aid in project feedback for an English instructor, whether in a writing, rhetoric, literary or media studies course.

Learn more and apply.

ENGL388W: Writing Center Consultant Internship

Professor: Tom Earles

As a peer tutor in the Writing Center you will: enhance your own writing, grammar and interpersonal communication skills through training and experience; read, discuss and write about the writing process and tutoring; explore tutoring techniques through a variety of activities; and tutor students to help them improve their writing.

In other words, this internship offers you an opportunity to increase your knowledge about writing and become a better writer, as well as the satisfaction of helping others to improve their writing.

Students in ALL majors are invited to apply. To qualify, you should: enjoy working with and helping other people; possess good written and oral communication skills and have good academic standing. Interns attend a weekly class and tutor several hours each week in the Writing Center.

Learn more and apply.

Off-Campus Internships

ENGL381/388M: Maryland General Assembly Writing Internship

Professor: Blake Wilder

The Maryland General Assembly (MGA) Program is an internship opportunity that places up to 15 students with Maryland senators and delegates during the spring legislative session in Annapolis in early January.

To prepare for this internship students are required to take a writing seminar in the fall, either ENGL381 or HONR368A.

Learn more and apply.

ENGL388P: English Careers Internship

Professor: Karen Lewis

Our most flexible internship, this course provides students with a means of gaining academic credit for an internship of their choice as long as at least 50% of their work is in writing- or research-related activities. Students find their own internship placements and then apply for academic credit through this course.

Learn more and apply.